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Oxygen refill a maintenance write up?

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Oxygen refill a maintenance write up?

Old 11-20-2019, 01:04 PM
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Default Oxygen refill a maintenance write up?

30 years of flying and today I was informed that any time I ask for the oxygen to be topped off it requires a maintenance write up and a discrepancy in the logbook. Thus like any maintenance write up which would ground the aircraft.

Anyone else handle it this way?
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Old 11-20-2019, 02:45 PM
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What kind of plane are we talking? I suspect you have a minimum pressure to dispatch. Anything below that would need a mx write up. If you are above that minimum but still want it topped off, it still requires a mx log entry but it would be wise to wait until mx is at the plane with an O2 bottle before putting something in the book.
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Old 11-20-2019, 03:26 PM
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Minimum dispatch pressure?
EICAS or status message prior to brake release?

Logbook entries are obviously also a way for the Oxygen-Stasi’s to verify your mask use.
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Old 11-20-2019, 03:33 PM
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In the 121 world, today? Yes. Anything you ask Mx to do requires a writeup. Technically.

They've gotten pretty serious about it. Too many operators kept glossing over intermittent faults, and you'd have the same thing recurring again and again without any formal documentation that the FAA could follow.

It actually protects pilots. And Mx jobs... at my last airline it was actually Mx management that was driving it, because line Mx spent so much time addressing minor undocumented issues that they couldn't keep up... and couldn't justify more staffing to HQ because there was no paper trail.
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Old 11-20-2019, 03:54 PM
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Originally Posted by Cargocapt View Post
30 years of flying and today I was informed that any time I ask for the oxygen to be topped off it requires a maintenance write up and a discrepancy in the logbook. Thus like any maintenance write up which would ground the aircraft.

Anyone else handle it this way?
Anytime servicing of the airplane takes place, it requires documentation.
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Old 11-20-2019, 04:38 PM
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This is 135. I've been working for a couple of air ambulance outfits and in 2 of them I was responsible for filling the O2. I changed to a new company this year and they have maintenance do it. But I was never told to write it up. It's actually one of the mechanics daily jobs to refill the tanks on both the med bed and the crew so it never has a need for me to ask or write it up. I beat them to doing my preflight one day and found it down so I asked for a top off and apparently because I asked instead of them just doing it as the normal procedure it's now a write up.
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Old 11-20-2019, 05:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Cargocapt View Post
This is 135. I've been working for a couple of air ambulance outfits and in 2 of them I was responsible for filling the O2. I changed to a new company this year and they have maintenance do it. But I was never told to write it up. It's actually one of the mechanics daily jobs to refill the tanks on both the med bed and the crew so it never has a need for me to ask or write it up. I beat them to doing my preflight one day and found it down so I asked for a top off and apparently because I asked instead of them just doing it as the normal procedure it's now a write up.
I've done 135 EMS for many years and as pilots we always topped the med bed with O2 when needed. We never touched the crew O2..thats a mx function and never a required write up.
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Old 11-21-2019, 01:00 PM
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Oxygen pressure insufficient for Observer/jumpseater........they MEL jumpseat and you go on your way. Oxygen pressure insufficient for required crew.....you don’t go anywhere til it’s filled. Both are maintenance write ups.
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Old 11-21-2019, 06:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Cargocapt View Post
This is 135. I've been working for a couple of air ambulance outfits and in 2 of them I was responsible for filling the O2. I changed to a new company this year and they have maintenance do it. But I was never told to write it up. It's actually one of the mechanics daily jobs to refill the tanks on both the med bed and the crew so it never has a need for me to ask or write it up. I beat them to doing my preflight one day and found it down so I asked for a top off and apparently because I asked instead of them just doing it as the normal procedure it's now a write up.
Part 43 regulations state thou shalt not touch the airplane except to fly it for parts 135 and 121, therefore any servicing is maintenance and must be performed by maintenance. There are a couple exceptions in part 43, but the airline/operator has to be specifically authorized to allow them. One is them may be oxygen servicing, id have to look, but the operator must have the authorization. I know other EMS stuff is in there. It also still requires compliance with the other parts of 43, like maintenance log entries, etc.

Last edited by JamesNoBrakes; 11-21-2019 at 06:51 PM.
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Old 11-21-2019, 06:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Cargocapt View Post
This is 135. I've been working for a couple of air ambulance outfits and in 2 of them I was responsible for filling the O2. I changed to a new company this year and they have maintenance do it. But I was never told to write it up. It's actually one of the mechanics daily jobs to refill the tanks on both the med bed and the crew so it never has a need for me to ask or write it up. I beat them to doing my preflight one day and found it down so I asked for a top off and apparently because I asked instead of them just doing it as the normal procedure it's now a write up.
At the companies I’ve worked at they have specific things they look at every 7 days/30 days. If that’s when they fill it the writeup just mentions 7 day/30 day check (whichever applies). The MX manual describes what they do/check during those inspections. However, if we need them to make special arrangements just to top the oxygen, it requires an “O2 service required” writeup.
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